As the prequel to a popular film series, Fate/Zero naturally attracted widespread attention from movie fans before its release.
And that was before Jidai Group (Bandai in Japan) spent nearly half a year bombarding potential moviegoers with a comprehensive advertising campaign across every platform imaginable.
Thanks to the success of the previous film and the massive publicity campaign, Fate/Zero's box office soared as soon as it was released, as if it were on drugs.
Fate/Zero opened to huge numbers in Britain, earning 18.8 million pounds in its first three days.
Its North American opening weekend was even more impressive, breaking 94 million dollars outright. Counting the premiere and advance screenings, its North American box office had already surpassed 100 million dollars, leaving Shinji unable to help remarking, "North America really is a fine field of leeks."
As for Fate/Zero's home country, Japan, 400,000 people went to see it during its first weekend, with women making up almost half of the audience.
It was clear that even though everyone had been making fun of the girl who'd been dazzled by Shuazige's good looks, women just couldn't resist going to the theater to see how handsome that man really was.
And then they were
captivated by Diarmuid, known as the "Radiant Visage."
According to Shinji's informant among the elementary school students (Illya), Diarmuid's card had replaced Gilgamesh's as the hardest of the seven Heroic Spirit cards to collect. In Japan's underground market for elementary school students, one could even sell for 2,000 yen—more than a movie ticket.
However, even in such a rosy market, there were always a few discordant voices.
〔Fate/Zero's style differs too much from FSN, provoking widespread protests from fans who feel the adaptation falls far short of their expectations. A wave of ticket refunds may follow.〕
Kinema Junpo,